RECORDING HUMAN INTERACTION IN NATURAL SETTINGS

Pragmatics
3:2.l8l -209.
International
Pragmatics
Association
RECORDINGHUMAN INTERACTION IN NATURAL SETTINGS
CharlesGoodwin
This is a guide to the work practices, and video, sound and computer
equipment,needed to record human interaction in natural settings. It is
basicallya description of how I work. Other people certainly have different
waysof doing things, and these might be better than the ones I describe here.
Theseare only meant as suggestions.However, in the interest of clarity I've
statedthings as directly as possible, without hedges and qualifiers. Moreover
what is said here is largely confined to basic technical issues.At a few places
I've included detailed cabling diagrams and descriptionsof software
procedures.Though these might not seem necessaryfor the casual reader,
theyare preciselythe things that can take a long time to track down on your
own. I thereforethought it would be helpful to include them.
Video Formats
. Hi-S is better than VHS, 8mm and probably Super VHS. Use it if at all
possible(unlessyou have professionalequipment). It produces much
better copies than the other formats. You can shoot your original with Hi8 and then copy into VHS for analysis. The copy will be a iot better than
if you had used VHS for your original. Moreover Hi-8 tapes are much
smaller than VHS tapes, which is a big help in the field. You can carry a
couplein your pocket so that you are always ready to put a new tape in
the camerawhen the old one runs out.
o Your analysisdeck should
o Be able to play the same segment repetitively
o Have a counter that records in minutes and secondsinstead
of tape
r ev olut io n s
o Despitea horrible early experiencewith Sony's first portable video (all
of my original tapes disintegratedbecauseof the chemicalsSony put in
the backing)I use Sony equipment. One story I've heard and believe is
true is that Sony and Apple are working together on future interfaces.
BasicallyApple would use the Sony remote control language to control
video equipment from Macintosh computers. I believe (but of course am
not certain)that Sony equipment made now will be able to be used this
way through their current remote control ports. I don't know if Sony
licensesits remote control language to other manufactures. Though I
haven't used them I've seen Canon Hi-8's which also look good. One
Canon model allows you to entirely remove the lens and replace it with a
different one, something that would enable you to do much better wide
angle recording.
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Charles Goodwin
. While Sony Hi-8 cameras are reasonably priced (and the best consumer
cameras I have ever used) Hi-8 editing decks are very expensive (one
theory holds that if So.y lowers the price on its editing equipment
television stations will stop buying Sony's much more expensive
professional equipment and switch to Hi-8). I therefore record ^y
originals in Hi-8 and switch to VHS or 8mm for analysis.
. The camera I currently prefer is the So^y V801. This writes a
nonstandard time code on Hi-8 tape as it records. You don't have to
record the time of day on the tape. During the playback you just hit the
Time button and the time to the second at which it was recorded
appears. The code itself can't be copied to working copies but you can
copy the visible display (i.e. you can't turn the code on and off on your
copies).You also get time into the tape in minutes and secondsthat is
accurate to the frame number. You can electronically edit using frame
numbers with the Sony RM-E700 Time Code editing controller. The
camera has Stereo sound (highly recommend - see below) and a ten to
one zoom. The V801 has been replaced by a newer model, The EVO150TR which still writes time code, and has a color viewfinder. Highly
recommend. A lot of Sony's latest models seem designed to be as small
as possible. It might be that these new models are as sturdy etc. as the
slightly larger ones, but somehow I trust the bigger cameras more.
Moreover these bigger cameras are still quite small and given that you
will also be carrying a tripod and microphones, the slight difference in
camera size of the smaller camerashas no real advantage. Before using
the V801 I used the Sony V10i and found it to be the best video camera
I'd ever used. Superb picture quality. The V801 is basically the V101 with
a few new things added (time code, longer telephoto in the zoom).
Hi -8 Vi d eot ape
. Hi-8 technology is made possible as much by the tape as by the camera.
You need special tape to record in Hi-8. If you use ordinary 8mm tape in
a Hi-8 camera you will record in regular 8mm, not Hi-8. Moreover you
can't play Hi-8 tapes on regular Smm decks.
. There are two kinds of Hi-8 tape
o HMP Metal Particle Tape. Pros prefer this becausethe tape itself (or
the way in which the magnetic media are attached to the tape) is
stronger. The tape can take a lot more abuse as will occur when it is
used for editing with extensivejog and shuttle action which winds
over the same section of the tape repeatedly.
' HME Evaporated Tape gives a sharper picture but is more fragile.
o In making a decision between these think of how you will be using
the tape. If you are not making an edited film, but instead will work
largely from copies of the original tape, going back to it only for
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183
segmenttapes and new copies, you will not be putting the stress on it
that a professionalmaking a film would. On the other hand the
marginal improvement in picture quality that you get with
evaporated tape is probably not significant.
VideoTaping
. Practicewith your equipment before you actually tape
o Get the camera instruction manual and go over it and the camera
thoroughly, before you film.
o Set the time of day on the camera.
o Try out your whole setup first. Tape something at home. By actually
working with the equipment you will discover problems that you
hadn't imagined, and be able to fix them before you are in the
situation where the recording counts.
. Extension Cables
o Take an extension cable and a multi-outlet plug to the field with you.
If you have to use batteries take more than you think you will need,
and practice inserting and removing them.
. Recordthe time of day on your tape.
o This provides an easy and precise way to locate any section of the
tape when you do your analysis. Moreover this marking will always
be the same,even on copies.
o Set the time counter before you get to the site where you want to do
your shooting.
o If you are using more than one camera you can use the times on the
tapesto locate the same moment on different tapes. Make sure that
you synchronize the times on the camerasbefore you start. It is easy
to get them so that there is far less than a second of difference.
SoundRecording
. Use an external microphone placed as closely as possible to the people
you are filming. You will get much better sound this way. Test this
yourself.
o If people are going to be in a limited area you can tape the microphones
in positions near them before they arrive. Try the ceiling or lamps.
o Duct tape is invaiuable. Always take it. It's great for taping microphone
cables.If possible run them along the ceiling. If you must run them on
the floor put a line of duct tape over them. That way people won't trip
on the cables.duct tape comes in both silver and black. Black is less
conspicuous.Companies that service professional film makers sell
Gaffer's tape which is superior to duct tape. The glue is better and never
leaves any residue.
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Charles Goodwin
o Get extension cablesfor your microphones. I always carry three 25 foot
XLR extension cablesin my camera bag and use them all the tinre.
o Remove the batteries from you microphones when you are finished
taping and put them in again just before you shoot. This is another
important reason to use earphones-you'll find out if you have no
batteries. You can't avoid this problem by leaving the batteries in the
microphone. You might find yourself with dead batteries.
. Cameras that record in stereo are not essentialbut have advantages.If
you are taping a complex situation (a family dinner, a work setting) you
can put two microphones in two separate locations, for example at
opposite ends of the table. In doing analysis you can choose to listen to
only one track at a time. You will find that some talk which is almost
inaudible on one track (i.e. it was far from that mic) can be heard clearly
on the other.
o After some experimentation the Workplace Project found that TRAM
TR50's give pretty good sound. Other microphones certainly will as well,
but we were surprised at how much variation there was, and how much
better sound we got with these.They cost about $200. They are lavaliere
mics but I rarely use them that way. Usually I duct tape one near where
people are talking. I consider one of the microphones as essentialas a
camera and tripod.
. If you expect people to move from one place to another, you can save
yourself a lot of setup time if you put mics in both locations initially
(perhaps taped in place). Then all you have to do is move your camera
and plug in the new mic.
. If people are going to be moving, and you have to follow them around
with your camera, a shotgun mic mounted on top of the camera gives
much better sound than the camera'sbuilt-in mic. Better yet is using two
people, one to handle the camera and the other the microphone. I
originally used a shotgun that I got at the a discount consumer
electronics store for about $100,but after making tests found that the
Sennheiser ME-80 gives significantly better sound. The Sennheiseris a
modular system consistingof a basic power supply to which you attach
different microphone "heads" with different sound characteristics.You
buy each component separately. The K3U Power Supply costs about
$200, the ME-80 Short Shotgun about 9272,and the ME-40 Cardioid
about $150.The Cardioid is directional,but not as directional as a
shotgun. It eliminates most of the sound to its rear while picking up a
rather wide area in front of it. There are lots of situations where the
ability to do this is very, very valuable. The ME-40 Cardioid is also an
excellent mic to hang over a table to record a conversation. Foam
windscreens substantially improve the quality of your sound. The ME-80
takes the MZW-475 ($37) and the ME-40 the MZW-3OA ($19).Sennheiser
Recording human interaction in natural settings
185
also makes an omni-directional lavaliere head for this system which is
highly recommended and long shotgun which is not recommended.
o Professio.nal
sound people strongly recommend not using a shotgun mic
in a horizontal position pointing from the camera to the people you're
recording.Pointed this way your microphone will pick up not only the
group you're recording, but also all of the sounds behind and in front of
them. Instead try to get the microphone over the group pointing down
toward the ground. That way nothing but their talk is in the mic's field of
view. In natural settings this can be both hard to do and intrusive, and in
somesettingspointing a shotgun mic at the group you're taping will
work fine. However, when the mic can be positioned over the group
thereis a great improvement in sound quality. Look for ways to hang
your mic over the place where a group will be talking, for example over
a table.
. I haven't used wireless mics but would very much like to have good
ones.It would help immensely. I've heard that cheap wireless mics have
problems(drift in and out or fade as people turn away - this is all
hearsay).I've also been somewhat concernedsince situations like the
airport have a lot of radios and other electricalequipment that I don't
want to interfere with. That said I think that wireless mics would be very,
very valuable.You could follow people who are moving, eliminate cable
in fixed settings,and eliminate a lot of setup. Stringing mic cables is one
of the most time consuming and intrusive components of setting up to
shoot.SamsonStageII series wireless microphones, such as the MR-1,
have been recommended to me. They cost between 9300 and $450.
o Get to know whatever mics and recorders you use well. Some'of them
have settings,probably designed for loud rock shows, that lower the
signal.You don't want that for taping in natural settings.
o Tram mics, and many other mics, come with 3 pin XLR adapter cables
while most camcordershave mini-plug mic inputs. On the next page is a
diagramshowing you how to wire adapter cables.It includes a diagram
for making a very useful cable that will allow you to attach two separate
externalmics to the stereo input jack on a camcorder that records in
stereo.
. I have found that this cable works fine when two mics are attached.
When only one mic is attached it has to be attached to the left input
connector.If it is attached to the other one you won't get any sound.
Experimentto find out which input works on your camera and then
mirk that connector with a labell You can also'attach a single external
mic with the single adapter cable diagrammed on the bottom of the page.
You can also use a stereoinstead of a mono mini plug on such a cable
and send the signal from your mic to both the left and right channels of
your tape.
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Charles Goodwin
. Soldering is quite easy and it is very helpful for making audio cables.
You want a comparatively low powered soldering gun or iron. A wire
stripping tool, set of needle nosed pliers and small vise are very useful.
Strip the insulation from around the wires, twist the wire strands
together, and attach them to the connector you will be soldering them to.
Don't rely on the solder alone to hold everything together. Instead try to
have the wire itself act as a tie. For example if the connector has a small
hole (as most do) force the wire through the hole and bend it into a U
shape and wrap it back over itself. With the soldering gun heat the wire
not the solder. Hold the solder onto the wire away from where you are
heating it. When the wire gets hot enough the solder will flow around
and through it. To check your connections use a continuity checker. This
can be as simple a flashlight light with a needle at one end and a probe at
the other or you can use a volt/ohm meter. Basically you put a probe on
say the tip of the plug you've soldered and touch all of the wires in turn
with the other probe. The needle should move (or the light light up) only
on the connection you want (for example tip and wire attached to
number 2 pin on the XLR). If any other combinations light up you have a
short circuit.
Recording hunnn interaction in natural settings
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Charles Goodwin
o The input jacks on consumer jacks are fragile. To prevent thc weight
of XLR adapters from straining them I wrap the cable above the
adapter around something on the tripod head. Since the adapters
are not hanging no stress is put on the mic input jack.
. Always use earphones.
o I taped some wonderful stuff and
then when I got back home
discovered that my microphone had broken.
. Swiss Army Knife
o A Swiss army knife is invaluable both in the field and when
hooking
up equipment for talks, etc. Make sure that the one you get has a
Philips head screwdriver, a regular screwdriver and a scissors.I use
the ieather punch to remove batteries from the Tram mics, and the
knife itself to remove plastic wrap from things like tape packages.
' The sound you hear in the field will never get any better when you get
home. Get the absolute best you can in the field since everything will
go downhill from there.
o Many people seem to
think that somewhere a set of magic filters exist
that will turn bad field sound into crystal clear audio. Some people
also believe in Santa Claus. There is little, if anything, you can do to
improve bad field sound. Instead concentrateon getting the best
possible sound when you are actually recording. Move the mic as
close as possible to the people you are taping. Try to get rid of as
much background sound as possible.If the participants permit you,
turn off air conditioners (bad white noise) and radios. Better yet try
to pick field settingswhere problems like these don't exist in'the first
place (needlessto say this can't always be done, and your main
concern is the integrity of the setting you are working in). Mainly be
very paranoid about the quality of sound you are hearing in the
field. At the beginning of your setup do everything possible to
maximize this. If appropriate make some changeslater, but once
activity in the setting gets going you probably want to avoid
disrupting things by running in to move microphones (though there
are circumstanceswhere this can be done).
Lighting
' It would be great to be able to set up really good lighting. However extra
lights are one of the most intrusive things you can add to a natural
situation. I never use a movie light on top of the camera.I used to
sometimesreplace the regular lights in a room with 200 watt bulbs (I also
carried spare fuses). This is no longer really necessary.Modern cameras
do well in rather low light. Neverthelesstry to get as much light as you
c an.
Recording human interaction in natural settings
189
o More important than the amount of light is its direction. If the area
behind the people is much brighter than the people themselves (for
examplepeople sitting in front of an open sky or a white wall) this
backlighting will make the people themselves appear very dim. Avoid
this if at all possible. Don't shoot with a bright open window behind the
scene.Some modern cameras do a good job of compensating for this, and
have controls to manually override the camera's default settings.
However I've never found this completely satisfactory.The best thing is
to avoid such situations.
. Similarly harsh sun can create dark shadows. If shooting outdoors I like
to shoot people sitting in the shade (Before shooting Auto Discussion I
had someonehelp move the picnic table under a tree. The tree also
provided a place to hang the microphone).
. Lighting inside homes is frequently bad for taping. Tty to get a ceiling
light rather than lamps, especially lamps you are shooting toward.
o Fluorescentlights usually work pretty well (despite what you might
have heard about their coior balance they usualiy give a lot of light and
peopleare easy to see).
TapeConsiderations
o Carry backups of as much equipment as you can, e.g. an extra
microphone,extra batteries, etc.
. Label your tapes as you are shooting.
o Put a label on the spine of the tape.
o Write the setting, date and tape number, e.g. Archaeology Dig 22-Jul9 2# 7 .
o Leave room at the top of the label to write your final catalogue
number later (i.e. you want to have all your tapes in order. The
number you put on at the site simply indicates if this is the first,
second,or third tape shot that day).
o Don't worry about labeling the tape boxes. It's more of a nuisance
than a help in the midst of actual setting (the easiestthing to do is to
put the tape you remove into the box from the new tape -- therefore
you don't want the boxes labeled).
o If you use more than one camera have a letter in your label for each
camera.Make notes where each camera is positioned. That way if
you later want to find the tape that was focused on the left side of the
room, and your notes tell you it was the B camera you just have to
look for a tape with B in the place where you mark the camera on the
label.
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Charles Goodwin
. Always hit the record tab on a tape that has been shot as you remove it.
That way you can't accidentally record over it. This also provides a
quick way to tell if a tape has been used yet.
o On 8mm and Hi-8 tape there is a sliding red tab that you move. On
VHS tapes you breali a little plastic tab on the spine of cassette.If you
later want to record over the tape you can put a piece of scotch tape
over the hole created when you broke the tab.
. If possible make notes as you are shooting.
o [Jse a small pocket notebook. Anything else is too big to handle in
the midst of everything else you are doing.
o Notes are especially important on a multi-day field expedition. At
least indicate the date when a tape was shot and roughly what was
happening.
o If you record the time of day on the tape you can note specific
incidents even as they are happening. ]ust look at your watch to get
the time and make a note in your notebook. Later you can find that
place on the tape.
. Shoot continuously. After all of the work and effort you put into
getting to the site where you want to film, and the cost of equipment, the
cost of tape is peanuts. You want to get everything you can. Bring plenty
of tape, certainly more than you think you will need. You can't anticipate
when interesting things will happen and if you record everything you
can later go back and see whai led up to them.
. If possible note the time that you start a new tape. Then you can look at
your watch to figure out when the tape has to be changed. (I don't always
manage to do this -- sometimes things are too hectic. But I'm glad when I
do do it).
o Use two hour tapes.
o If possible try to avoid recording on the first two minutes and last
two minutes of the tape. The signal is much more apt to jump, etc.
there. I usually don't do this becausethere is too much going on
when trying to tape natural interaction. However I do notice some
jumping at the beginning and end of a tape.
o Whenever possible (e.g. at least 95Voof the time) use a tripod. It is much,
much easier to look repetitively (as you must doing analysis) at a tape
that is steady. On some occasionsa tripod is impossible (following
someone around for example). Practice holding the camera as steady as
possible.Don't rely on just one hand. Put your left hand under the
camera to support it and try to move as smoothly as possible.
o Bogen Magic Arms are invaluable when taping in natural settings. You
can clamp the arm to a door, window, chair, etc. and then easily position
Recording human interaction in natural settings
7gl
the camera anywhere you want it. A ball and socket head on top of the
arm to fine tune the camera view is invaluable. The Bogen Magic Arm
comesin two parts, the Magic Arm itself (Bogen 2929 or 2930) and the
Super Clamp (nogen 2910).-TheBogen 2929 ls easier to adjust and lock
than the Bogen 2930,but both will work. I use a Gitzo 175 Ball and Socket
head.It is medium to small sized which I find adequate for a light 8mm
or Hi-8 camera.In order to get the camera and ball and socket on and off
the arm easily I use a Bogen Quick ReleasePlate and Mounting bracket.
When using the Magic Arm it is an immense help. The arrangement of
Magic Arm, Quick ReleasePlate and Ball and Socket Head I highly
recommend.I also use the Quick ReleasePlate on my regular tripod. I
like it very much but could live without it if I had to (which I wouldn't
say about the Quick Releaseon the Magic Arm).
o Positionthe camera to get the best view of what you are trying to tape,
not where it is most comfortable for you. Sometimes the camera has to be
quite low. On the newer 8mm and Hi-8 camerasyou can easily tilt the
viewfinder up so you can look down at it instead of having to get behind
it. Other times you might have to put the camera quite high, for example
on top of a file cabinet or attached to a Bogen arm. Such a position might
give you a much better view of the materials that people are working
with than a waist level shot would.
o On many occasionsthe best place
to put the camera is somewhere
where you can't get behina lt (e.g. on a file cabinet, in the corner of a
dinning room). A small, handheld monitor is invaluable in such
circumstances.You can hook it up to the camera while positioning it
in a place that is comfortable for you and reach up and adjust the
camera.
Wide Angle Lens
o Justabout everywhere I've taped I found a wide angle lens to be very
important. On most modern video cameras the lens can't be removed
from the camera.This createssome problems. You can't get a really wide
angle lens and the picture quality is somewhat degraded when you
attachone. Despite this you really need it. However, there are many
times when you don't want to use it. If you can get what you need
without using it do so. If you want to get a close-up of what people are
writing vou want it off the camera. Very frequently I attach and remove
wide angle lens several times during the course of a day's (or even an
hour's) shooting, especially if the events I'm taping are changing (for
example workers at an archaeological site).
Multiple Cameras
' Multiple cameras are extremely useful in many situations. That way you
can get both a wide angle that covers all participants and close-ups of
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Charles Goodwin
specific events. It is also possible to cover a complicated setting that
couldn't be covered with a single camera. In the setting reported in
Transparent Vision we used three cameras,one on each side of the room,
and one roving close-up camera. For the analysis developed in that
paper all three were necessary.Some of the interaction was visible on
only one or the other camera, and the close-up provided us with a shot of
what everyone was looking at, which couldn't be clearly seen in the wide
angle cameras.
. You can get electrical equipment that will feed several cameras into a
single image, for example a different camera in each corner of the screen.
When you do this the recorded image from each camera gets a lot
smaller. If you are going to do this have each camera make its own tape
before the signal is sent to the mixer.
. Professional cameras write time codes that can be used to synchronize
them.
o What I do, which is not ideal, but works for me, is simply use the time of
day clocks on each camera to visually locate equivalent placesin the
tape recorded by each camera. Thus if something I'm interested in
happened at 7:02:34pmon the A camera I look for the same time on the B
and C cameras.As noted above you should synchronize the clocks so
that they have less than a second of difference between them before you
st ar t t aping.
o You can also use this to set up multiple views of a screenon separate
monitors placed next to each other. However it is cumbersome.
Moreover you can't just start separatetapes together and expect them to
stay together for a long time. Each recorder plays at a slightly different
speed and eventually the tapes drift out of alignment. If you want to
really keep synch you need time code.
. I haven't tried this but a computer program designed to edit movies on
the computer itself, such as Adobe Premiere might enable you to bring
in clips and sound from separate cameras,line them up and look at them
in relationship to each other.
J
Camera Bag
. This sounds minor, and is certainly not as important as having a good
camera, microphone and tripod. It is however more important than you
might think. You want to get into a setting and set up with as little fuss as
possible. This is much, much easierif you have all of your equipment in
just one or two bags. My bag holds a camera, several videotapes, two
lavaliere mics, one shotgun mic, one other mic, three 25' microphone
cables,a long electricalextension cord with a multiple outlet strip, a tiny
monitor with its power supply, the camera power supply, rechargeable
batteries for the camera,AA and button cell batteriesfor the
Recording human interaction in natural settings
I93
microphones,monitor, etc., a bunch of adapter cables, a pen, some duct
tape,the manual for the camera, etc. It is a tremendous help to have all of
this stuff in one place. In that I keep it packed I have whatever I need
whenever I go tape. Make sure that your camera, and any other delicate
equipmentis well cushioned.The bag I use is a Tamrac model 613.
RechargingBatteries
o The rechargeablebatters that Sony sells for its 8mm and Hi-8 cameras
have a memory. If you recharge them before they are completely
dischargedthey will start to go empty after only a little while. You won't
get much recording time out of your batteries. To avoid this always
dischargeyour batteries completely before recharging them. Don't top
them off after using them for a short time.
o I dischargemy batteries completely after every
day's taping. To do
this I attachthem to a cameraand play a tape. I leave them
dischargeduntil the night before I tape again. Then I charge all the
batteriesI will take.
o You can also buy a special gadget, such that the Sigma Powermax
Discharger,that is designed specificallyto dischargeyour batteries.I
just purchasedone and was surprised at how much life I got out of
my batteriesafter using it.
o Sony's latest power supply/charger automatically discharges
batteriesbefore recharging. Older models don't.
StiII Camera
' RecentlyI've also taken a still camera with me when I shoot. Whiie this
can be very, very useful, and is a great aid for ethnographic
documentation,I find that 997oof my subsequent analysis is done with
the video, The stills are less important now that frame grabs are possible.
They are nonethelessinvaluable for certain things. A camera that prints
the date or time on the image itself is especiallyvaluable. You can get
backsthat do this for professional cameraslike Nikons, and some of the
smaller point and shoot cameras for consumers also have models that do
this.
What to include in the Frame
. This is the most important topic in the handout. However it is not one
that can be answered in a simple way.Any decision you make will have
problems.For example if you shoot wide angle to get all the participants
you won't have good close-upviews of their facial expressionsor the
materials they are working with. If you shoot close ups you'll miss the
interaction(something you never want to do). Basicallyyour analytical
interestsshould govern your choice of what to include, and indeed the
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Charles Goodwin
decisions you make here are in and of themselvesa central part of your
analysis. Moreover they will shape and constrain whatever you are able
to do with the tape subsequently.
o Since I have been interested in interaction, and very much in what
hearers as well as speakers do, I have always included the recipients
in the frame. This does however mean zooming and changing camera
position in order to get the relevant participants as large as possible,
and sometimes deciding that someone is not a relevant participant at
the moment (clearly a contestableanalytic decision). You can see
some of this in Auto Discussion. When working on the
oceanographic ship my lens would sometimes not cover the entire
room so I had to make decisions about which group to cover. I also
wanted a record of the computer screensthey were working with,
and sometimes I zoomed in on them. Though I lost the participants
briefly these shots were invaluable for subsequent analysis.
o I view taping as an iterative, progressive process.The first time you
tape in a setting, and then work with the materials you've collected,
you find both wonderful things and problems in what you've done.
What I like to do at this point is go back and try to get the stuff I
missed the first time. For example, when working the airport settings
at the Workplace Project we quickly realized that the materials that
participants were working with, such as documents and computer
screens,were crucial to what was going on. We went back again and
again trying to find ways to capture the work practices, the
interaction, and the documents. This involved working with
multiple cameras and experimenting with different ways to place the
camera.It's not that some of the taping we did we was right and some
was wrong, but instead that the analysis we were engaged in and the
process of collecting data were both parts of a single recursive
process.This was just as true for my earliestwork in taping
conversations.The first time I taped I hand held the camera and got
sea sick looking at the tape. I quickly realized that I needed not only
a tripod but also a wide angle lens when I tried to tape in people's
dining rooms and kitchens.Then I discoveredthat I had to be able to
move a lot of equipment quickly so I built a cart to carry everything
(this was invaluable for Clacia and Auto Discussion).In some of my
recent work however I've found it necessaryto hand hold the
cam er a.
o Some of what you bring to a setting is a way
of seeing developed in
earlier settings.For example when I first taped archaeologistsI got
interested in the way that they would map artifacts and moved the
camera every which way to try and capture the different components
of this process,which included at leasi two and usually three
Recording huntan interaction in natural settings
195
seParatePeople spread out in gpace,tools such as rulers and plumb
bobs,and writing on different klnds of surfaces.When I encountered
this situa.tionagain several months later I knew right where I wanted
to be and was able to move the camera there imm"ediatelyand get
some very useful data.
o A major question:
How to integrate ethnography with taping? No
simple answershere.
Tape Library
o Have a-sequenceof consecutivenumbers for all of the tapes in
a
particularproject. That way you both find a tape easily, ind tell
immediatelyif one is missing. At one point we used a'date code to label
(e g 91-10-03#1). WhiF this gav^eeach rape a unique number you
tapgs.
couldn'ttell if one was missing. wV-01, wv-02', etc. is simpler and
clearer.
. Keep a tape log.
" Tlq best.placeto do this of course is on the computer. I adapted my
addressbook program, Dynodex, to do this.
" I^5: separatenumber codes for originals from each project (e.g.
cRT-19 is a tape of courtroom Dati, ARL-13 was taped in an
Archaeology Lab). The codes are short so that they cin be written,
along with the date, on labels pasted on the tapes.I then have a code
Igl_ly *9l\t^"g copies (VDE fbr 8mm, i.e. Video Data Eight, and
VDV for VHS working copies).
o I color code all
of my tapes (I'm really paranoid about messing up
my originals.).I.got small dots from a-sfationarystore and put-red
dots on originals, green dots on working copiei, and yelloir dotr ort
segmenttapes.This way I can tell at a glance what kind of tape I am
working with.
o In the entry for
each original in the tape log I mark the tape number
of any.copiesthat have been made. When iwant to find a particular
tape I look under the originals and the log immediately teils me the
tape number of the copy I need. when working with d.'ata,even
though-I am working liom copies, I always usd the code for the
-of
original to note where a particular piece
data came from.
' If possiblekeep your originals in an air conditioned
room that few
peoplehave accessto. Copies should be easy to get to.
'Jot."ig-hj_*lnt
to use your computer to make your own tape labels for
8mm and Hi-S ta.pes..
A piece of piper can be folded in the 8inm plastic
boxesto make a label. This providei an easy way to put your name,
address,Tape # and comments with the tape. t idapied ihe audio tape
196
Charles Goodw,in
Iabeler that came with Hypercard, but you can probably do the same
thing with a word processor.
Copying Tapes
o ALWAYS work from copies not originals.
. Even if you think you want to focus on a particular segment copy tapes
from the beginning right through to the end. Don't go to just the
segment you want. This way the counter numbers that you are working
with on the copy match the counter numbers on the original. Thus if
your data segment is 33 minutes into tape ARL-22, all you have to write
is ARL-22 0:33 and you can immediately find it both on any copies and
on the original. Otherwise you spend a lot of time searching through the
tape any time you go back to the original to make a segment tape or
frame grab.
Sound recording during copying
o Most modern consumer video camerasset sound levels automatically.
However some decks you will use for analysis, as well as good audio
recorders,allow you (or force you) to set the record level manually.
. To do this you use a meter. Sometimes it is a real meter, sometimes
flashing lights. Irrespectiveof thesedifferenceswhat you want to do is
o Play through a bit of the original tape until
you get what you think
will be the loudest sounds that you'll copy.
o Set the record level on the recording machine
so that these sounds
just peak over the optimal setting (marked on the meter or the lights
-your manual will tell you.)
o Leave it at this setting.
Don't try to "ride the gain" by constantly
adjusting the level as the recording is made. You will only make
things worse (e.g.you'll raise the level when listening to low
passagesso that when a loud passagesuddenly comes it will be way
too high and get distorted).
. C able S et up:
o Go into Line In (not mic) on the record
deck. On some machines this
i s c a l l e dA u x .
o Come out from the playback
deck at Line Ouf. Only if there is no Line
Out use the earphone plug. You get better sound from Line Out.
Moreover you have to adjust the volume if you use the earphone.If
you do have to use this set the earphone control at a mid level. Don't
set it too high. Then make your final adjustmentswith record level
control on the record deck (or let it get set manually).
' Incidentally a very good audio recorder is the Sony Professional
Walkman WM-6DC. If you get it also buy a mic extensioncable from
Recording hunnn interaction in nntural settings
197
Sony parts (outrap;eouslypriced). It gives you much better sound (you
eliminatenoise from the machine itself) and provides for better mic
plac em ent .
How to copy tapes (simplest system).
o You need two machineswhich I'll call the plavback machine and the
record machine. The tape you are copying from is on the playback
machineand the new tape that you are making is on the record machine.
The playback machine might be the Hi-8 camera you used to record the
original,and the playback machine might be a VHS deck. The trvo
machinesdo not have to be the same format.
o You need one cable for video and one for audio (two if you have stereo)
to connectthe twc-rmachines to each other.
o The video cable goes from Video Out on the Playback machine to Video
In on the Reci-rrd
machine.
. Similarly the audio cable goes from Audio Out on the playback
machineto Audio In on the Record machine.
. The output of the record machine is then hooked up to a monitor.
Monitor
InPut
PlaybackDeck
AudioC"'''
video
HecordDeck
Output
Audio Video
:::
]:
Turn EditSwitchOn
on Sony Recorders
. The Edit Switch on Sony VCRs controls special filtering. Turning the
E dit S wit c h O N re m o \/e sthesefilters from the circuit so that the recorder
198
Charles Goodwin
making the copying can do its own filtering. This produces a better
copyo If you are using Sony machines put the edit switch ON on both
machines when copying.
o Turn the Edit Switch OFF when not copying. This is especially
important when using a camera to record new data. If the Edit Switch is
ON you will get a much poorer recording.
. Make sure that the record tab is fixed on the original so that you can't
accidentally record over it.
o Give the copy a new number in your tape catalog, make a label with this
number and Copy XYZ-\O, and put it on the tape that will be used for the
copy.
o Put the appropriate tape in each machine (original in the playback
machine and a blank tape in the record machine).
. Simultaneously hit the playback button on the playback machine and
the record button(s) on the record machine.
How to make a segment tape.
. When you give a presentation you want to put the brief excerpts you
will show in order on a presentation tape. I call this a segment tape since
it contains a collection of short data segments.You would also use this if
you were making a collection of a particular kind of phenomenon.
o From your working copies get the data citations (e.9. tape number and
location on the tape) of the segmentsyou want, and arrange them in
or der .
o As you make a segment tape it is very useful to simultaneously write a
table of contentsor log. This will contain
o The counter number on the
segment tape where each segment begins.
o The tape number of the original
tape that the segment is taken from.
o The counter number on that
tape where it was taken from.
o The time of day on the original where
the segment begins and the
time of day where it ends (this is really useful when actually making
the segments).
' A brief description of the data
segment.
For example:
Recording human interaction in natural settings
Original
Tape
0:00:51 ARL-21
WARP #4
In and Out
org.
Counter Times
0:1:25
Counter
D escri pti on
1:39:001:39:33
Go to 90 Sequence
1 :4 5
9:30:48-
Munsell Sequence
0:02:13 CRT-20
77:45
0:18:120 :1 8 :3 0
Ki.g Being Beaten
0:02:36 CRT.19
15:35
A RL- 1 8
WARP #1
199
Serseant Duke
o With a log like this you can both easily find the segment you need
when making a presentation, and note exactly where each segment
came from on its original tape.
. Machinesare set up exactly the same way as for copying.
o Use your originals, not your working copies, to make a segment tape.
Tapequality deterioratesrapidly when copies are made from copies.
o Recordperhaps 30 secondsof blank at the beginning of the segment tape
(the tape in the record machine)
o Put that recorder in Pause
o Startthe original a bit before the beginning of the segment you want to
record (to allow the tape to come up to speed).
o When the tape reachesthe point where you want it to begin Releasethe
pause Button on the record machine.
o Here is one place where time of day on the original tape is very
helpful. After you've determined your segment boundaries just look
for those numbers. It's a lot easier than trying to remember word
cues,etc.
o When you reach the end of the segment turn off the playback machine
(but not the Record machine).
o Record a couple of secondsof blank as a division between segments.
o If you can get to your next segment very quickly put the Record
machine in Pause while you set up the next segment on the playback
machine.If it's going to take you a while turn the record machine off (it's
not good for tape to be held in pause too long, and if you wait too long
the recorder will start again automatically).
o This method avoids the problems of trying to get clean cuts with insert
editing. While this kind of editing, and recording a tape that already has
black recorded on it, is preferable and necessaryfor an edited tape, it is
200
Charles Goodwin
not necessarywhen all that is being done is stringing a series of segments
together.
Tape Citations
. Whenever you find a bit of data you want to work with you want to
know exactiy where it came from. Ideally your citation would have three
pieces of information
Time of Day
Time into Tape
Tape Number
2:52pm
ARL-30
0:50
o In practice you might not always have the time of day. The time into
the tape is very, very useful. If you have it you can easily find that
segment on the original or another copy (as long as you have copied
the whole tape from the beginning). It also makes it easy to search for
that and other data on the tape.
o Clearly playback decks with counters that record in Hours, Minutes
and Seconds are much, much more useful than those that simply
record tape revolutions. These aren't even constant throughout the
tape (e.g. the amount of tape spooled in a revolution constantly
changes as the diameter of tape on the feed and takeup hubs
changes).
Content Logs
o It is very useful to have a rough log of what any tape that you shoot
contains. View this as a rough guide to the tape, a way to quickly find
things in it, rather than as any kind of definitive description of what is on
the tape.
o As your analysis changes,for example as you discover new phenomena,
things that you might initially have passedover on the tape suddenly
become very interesting. "What's on the tape" emerges as process of
interaction between the tape itself and the interpretative framework you
bring to it, something that it is a continuous state of flux. Thus, no
content log is ever definitive. However, don't let this prevent you from
making any content log at all.
o In a content log include the Time into the Tape, the Time of Day (from
the on screen counter) and your own rough notes. The files containing all
of our Content Logs start with CLV (for Content Log Video). That way
we can immediatelv tell what kind of file it is.
Recording huntan interaction in natural settings
20I
CLV ARL-I Arch Lab 16-Sep-91
Ann tells Nancy what choices are for a particular
category
6:25pm 2:06:30 Betty comes in, introductions of everyone in lab
7:15pm 2:07
Discussionas to whether something is a label
7:30pm 2:07
Tell them to go to notebooks -- way that construct
narrative "it was raining etc." to make senseout of the
materials as they now present themselves
8:30pm 2:08
Looking at coordinates on chart on bookcase
9:15pm 2:09
Tells Nancy to look for Rims -- now that have been
washed. Directive
9:57pm 2:70
Chuck's coke explodes
After goes out of room reconstruct what sound meant to
them -- i.e. "at first I thought" stuff
. I find that the best time to make a content log is when I'm making my
working copy of the tape. That way I'm forced to get through the whole
tape.If I do it with a copy I quickly get intrigued with something, or
want to make sure that I'm right about what I think I see,and then start
looking in detail at the segment that caught my attention. This leads to
new analysis,but I never get through the whole tape. If I make the log
while the copy is being made I can't stop it, but can still flag the things I
want to look at in more detail.
6:00pm2:06
. It is of course easy to make additions to the Content Log when you view
the tape again.
. To find things later it is useful to use standard terms, "keywords" for
phenomena.
o To make the log I use the Table feature in Word 5. You can add things
indefinitely in the notes column and without interfering with the time
columns. I keep a glossary entry for Content Log Columns on my Work
menu so that it is availablewhenever I need it.
Trans c r ipt s
. I will not here discussall the issuesinvolved in transcription as theory,
alternativerepresentations,etc. These are descriptionsof a few ways of
doing transcript that I have found useful.
' I find the Table feature in Word useful for Transcripts (I actually use
severaldifferent formats for transcripts I am using for different
purposes).I add a Notes column to the right of the Time, Speakerand
Utterance columns.
202
Charles Goodwin
Time
S peak er
0 : 1 3 Geoffrey:
Talk
Notes
Not mu:ch
going Jon.
lley: you're out of
Pam:
scale.
(6.2)
Pat:
Unusualuoicequality that
don't know how to capture
Notehow like monitoring
in the Ops Room
Beforeanswering Pam Pat
moaesher gazet'rom Chart
to CTD
Getting information
releaantto productionof
that answer.
Said after look to CTD
screen
No:.
You can actually change the
(b re a d th ).
Lines have been added to the printout to highlight the column
arrangement. You don't need them in your printouts.
. I can add very long comments in the Notes column and the Transcript
Lines will expand to accommodatethem. If I want just the Transcript I
can eliminate the Notes Column, and the empty spacebetween lines of
talk will disappear.
' This transcript format is for my own work. When I use it I have the
paper print sideways in Landscapemode so that each row can be
longer than normal.
o For papers I define a style in Word with tab stops for right justified line
numbers, arrows, speakersand talk:
CRT - 0180: 56
9
Defense:
10 -+
And what Sergeant Koon will tell you=
=this is his [rendi:tion,(0.4)of what he sa:w.
[on No.
1i
smith:
. To line up overlap simply put a tab before the overlapped talk, add a
new tab to the ruler line, and move it until things roughly line up.
o If you want to line up tabs for overlap more precisely open
Preferencesin Word and change the measurement unit from inches
to points.
o It's a good idea to put overlap bracketson both lines of overlapping
t alk .
Recording human interaction in natural settings
203
o I find it very useful to add sub and superscripted brackets to my Work
Menu so that I can insert them when needed instead of having to format
eachnew one by hand. I put formats for content logs and transcript tables
there as well.
Using Video in Talks
Oaerheads
. Use at least 18 point type on your overheads. If you use smaller type
people will have a hard time reading it.
o Number your overheads in sequencein a small size (I use 10 point) on
the bottom of the Overhead. If they get shuffled out of order you can
immediatelyput them in sequenceagain.
. Putting multiple overheads on top of each other to develop an
argument.
o Do one diagram that containseverything.
o Then print out subparts of that for each separateoverhead,
o Sinceall the parts fit together in the master all you have
to do is line
up the edge of each overhead with the one before it and the images
will be in exactly the right place.
o To make the separateframes from the master you
can make a bunch
of new files, starting with the master and then deleting everything
you don't need for that particular overhead.
o With Illustrator you do the same thing with a
single file
* Put a label for each layer outside the printing area.
* Group the label and whatever will be printed on that overhead
together. Include a sequencenumber on the bottom right (e.g.
AAA-03a, AAA-03b, AAA-O3c, etc. Each small letter marks a
layer in AAA-03) so that you can easily put things in order. Pile
the sequencenumbers on top of each other. Since each will be
grouped with a label only one will print at a time). Now, just by
hitting the label you can select the layer you want.
* To print each layer
o Select All (e.9. everything on the document)
o LJsethe Shift key to De-Selectthe layer
you want to
print.
o Choose Hide from the Arrange menu. Only the layer
you
want to print (the one that wasn't selected)is left.
'Print this.
o Pick Show AII from the Arrange Menu to get everything
back and proceed to the next layer.
204
Charles Goodwin
o I gather that Aldus Freehand can do this in a simpler fashion.
o You can print overheads directly on a Laserwriter. However you have to
open the tray at the back of the printer so that the overhead does not
bend around and come out on top. If you only have a single overhead
you can put it in the external page feeder. If you have many overheads
put them directly in the paper tray. Remember to remove them when
you are done.
Segment Tape
o Have the examples you will need in order on a Segment Tape. Have a
log that shows you the counter number where each segment begins.
Since I use an 8mm deck my Segment Tapes are 8mm.
. Flave an Overhead with a transcript of what is said during the sequence.
Text on the overhead should be at least 18 point.
VCR
. Bring you own VCR. If you've spent a lot of time preparing a talk you
want it to work. I find that the VCR's that hotels and convention centers
provide are terrible. Most of the time they do not allow you to replay a
small sequencerepetitively. If they have a remote control it works
differently from your own so that your hand doesn't know what to do.
The result of all this is a mess during your talk as you try to get the tape
to play the segment you want. People want to hear your analysis, not
your apologies for why you can't present it.
o If you bring your own VCR you know exactly what it will do and the
remote control is second nature to you. The machine I use, and
strongly recommend for this purpose is the Sony EV-C3. It is a small
8mm deck, about the size of a dictionary, that you can easily carry on
an airplane and it has a small but very adequateremote control. The
deck does not have stereobut that is its only drawback. The counter
counts in minutes and seconds.Sony makes smaller, pocket sized
Watchman. However these don't hold a still frame well. When I first
got the EV-C3 I liked it so much that I used it for all of my analysis.
However after a couple of months of very heavy use I had to have it
overhauled. It's not designed for a really heavy pounding but I still
use it for a lot of my daily work and teaching.
. Take your own cablesand adapters.Let the hotel supply the monitor.
Different monitors have different inputs. Take a pair of RCA cables and
then go to Radio Shack and get every conceivable adapter, including
RCA to Miniplug and RCA to BNC. Also take a coaxial cable in casethey
d on' t hav e a v id e o i n p u t.
. Hand carry your tape and have it inspected by hand when you go
through airport security. Record stores carry small audiotape pouches
Recording human interaction in natural settings
205
that work very well for 8mm tapes (the larger tape boxes that have a
compartmentfor each tape DON'T work since 8mm tape boxes are wider
than audio tape boxes).
. I've taken this machine to Europe on many occasionsand have always
beenable to get it to play there. Frequently you can find a multi-format
monitor that will play NTSC, the American Standard. Even if you can't
find one American tapes will sometimes still play. For example on
Englishmonitors you get a cinemascopeeffect with blank lines at the top
and bottom but your tape playing fine in the middle. Carry a voltage
transformer(you'll destroy your machine if you try to plug 220 into it)
not just an adapter plug. The biggest problem I've had in Europe is that
somemonitors have input jacks which are totally unknown here.
o Use a cheap camera bag with padding to protect the deck as you carry it.
. Always get to your talk at least an hour before hand to set up you
equipm ent .
Work Setup
. Sincewhat you want to do as you look at tape is make notes, do analysis
and transcribe,I find it essential to have the analysis deck and monitor
right next to my computer.
r At this distancea 13" Video monitor is better than larger monitors. It is
hard to find a monitor this size with an earphone jack.
. At the moment I think that Macintosh is the preferred computer system
for doing either audio or video analysis (The Mac IIci is an excellent
choice).With the Macrecorder you bring sound right into the Mac (this is
now how I do transcription) and frame grabbing cards make it possible
for you to capture images from the tape. Gene Lerner has written The
Workbench for audio and video analysis and collection making. It
requiresthe Mac. Adobe Photoshop is the program of choice for
working with frame grabs. I also use Adobe Illustrator to add text and
arrows to the image, and to make transcripts that incorporate both frame
grabsand graphic annotations.I gather that Aldus Freehand would do
just as well. I used to use SuperPaint but find Illustrator vastly superior.
All of my overheads for talks are made with Illustrator. (Something that
took me a while to figure out in Illustrator: To set up Tabs for transcript
etc.you first draw a text box and then use the Pen Tool to draw a vertical
line from the top of the box to the bottom where you want the new
column to begin. Make this invisible by assigning 0 fill and stroke and
then chooseMake Text Wrap from the Type Menu. When you hit a tab
text will start at the line. Basically you do tabs by acting as though you
were trying to wrap text around an object, the line that you drew. Not at
all intuitive and hardly mentioned in Illustrator's manual). Pagemaker
allows you to incorporate both text and graphics on a page. However I've
206
Charles Goodwin
never really gotten into using it. I find that if I'm working with a single
page Illustrator gives me a lot of control, more I think than Pagemaker
would. When I want to write paper I use Word 5. I don't think that
Pagemaker does footnotes automatically and it certainly doesn't support
Endnote, a bibliography program I use all the time. Unlike earlier
versions of Word, Word 5 allows you to incorporate graphics. The best
way to do this is with System 7's Publish and Suscribe capabilities.
However (and this took me months to figure out) this won't work unless
you do the following. When you create a publishers in Illustrator or
Photoshop select PICT rather than EPS in vour options box. EPS
publishers will look fine on the screen but will not print properly. You
can also embed objects in the text with the Insert Picture command. The
objects being inserted have to be in EPS format (a save option in
Photoshop -- in Illustrator you have to choose Color Macintosh Preview).
If you get lines across some of your graphics 1) Turn Fractional Widths
ON in Word; 2) In the Laserwriter Options in the Chooser turn
Background Printing Off. You won't be able to do anything else on your
computer while the paper is being printed, but your graphics will print
better. Turn Background Printing back on when you're done. Papers that
include graphics take up an incredible amount of memory. Some of the
papers I am working on end up over two megabytes when I've inserted a
number of graphics. To work with Photoshop and Word 5 in this way
you need a lot of memory, at least 8 megabytesof RAM. I now have 20
megabytes of RAM which allows me to have Word, Photoshop and
Illustrator open at the same time. DiskDoubler is a good and safe file
compression program, a necessity when working with frame grabs. For
working with sound the program of choice is SoundEdit Pro. I use
Dynodex, an addressbook, to keep my tape log.
o Frame Grabbing Cards: The card you need is the ColorSnap 32+. It
costs about $600. Don't get anything else. For example a very popular
card at the moment is the VideoSpigot. This will NOT make acceptable,
high quality stills for publication. It's designed to grab a "movie," a
rapid sequenceof frames, but not a single frame at the best possible
resolution. Being able to incorporate "movies" i.e. actual video clips, in
the computer versions of our analysis offers very interesting possibilities
for the future. However here we are concentrating on getting an image
from a videotape that can in incorporated in a paper for publication.
Becauseof inherent limitations of the video medium frame grabs will not
be high quality graphics (basicallytheir resolution is limited to 72 DPI).
However, while that might not be acceptablefor a graphic artist
intending to publish in a magazine, it is quite sufficient for the work we
are doing, and offers ne\^rways of thinking about, and analyzing, the
organization of talk-in-interaction.
Recording human interaction in natural settings
207
o Mail-order. You frequently get the best prices, as well as excellent
serviceby ordering from large Mail Order house such as
Ma(onnection. Up to date ads can be found in the current issues of
MacWorld and MacUser.Mail-order houses usually deliver the next day
with reasonableshipping charges.
' Monitors. For both Frame Grabbing and general work a large two page
(e.g.21") monitor is excellent.I use black and white (actually ZSe griy
scale).Sinceeverything I print has to go to black and white i don'[ whnt
to becomedependent on color. Moreover black and white monitors are
much, much cheaper than color monitors. MacWorld reviewed these
monitors in its JuIy 1,992issue and recommended the Raster Ops 19" and
the Radius TDP /27.
FrameGrabs in Adobe Photoshop, Basic Procedure
1) Make the frame grab
2) Changethe Mode to Gray Scale (shifts file size from 900K to 300K and
you aren't going to print in color anyway).
3) Use the Video De-interlace filter
4) Use the Unsharp Mask Filter
o Use the Levels control to adjust contrast, etc.
' If you want to change the Image Size first Uncheck the File Size box.
. If you want to embed the image in Word 5 save it as EPS.
o If you want to Publish the image in Word 5 Create Publisher and then
Subscribeto it in Word 5 (This takes far less space than embedding but
doesn'tprint as weli).
CableSetup for Frame Grabs
o If is very helpful, indeed almost necessary,to be able to see the tape you
are grabbing from on a monitor as well as your computer screen.Wittr
my card the computer screen does not refresh the image often enough to
allow me to see the precise place where I want to make the grab.
' Thereforeyou want the signal from your recorder to go both to your
computer and to your monitor.
'_Originally I "looped" the signal through the monitor to the computer.
However I found that the quality of the images I was getting witli frame
grabs was degraded. Therefore you want the signal from you VCR to go
to two places: The frame grab card in your computer and your monit5r.
. To do this
o Connect the Video
Out |ack on the back of your VCR (the one with
RCA plugs like you see on your stereo system) to the Frame Grab
c ar d.
208
Charles Goodwin
o Connect the VHF out pin on the back of your VCR into the VHF
input or antenna input of your monitor. Set the monitor to TV and
you can view the image on either Channel 3 or Channel 4 (you can
usually choose one of these two channels with a switch on your
VCR). This pin uses a single coaxial cable for both video and audio
which are combined together. It is the kind of cable and connector
that cable TV companies use.
Mohit6r::,
VHFiUHF
Input
(orAntenna)
Computer
FrameGrab
CardInput
Output
AudioVi{eo
VHFiUHF
Out
o You get a better signal with the RCA Video Out connections.When you
don't want to do frame grabs you can remove the Frame Grab cable from
the VCR out jack on the back of your recorder and put the cable from the
Video In jack of your monitor back in.
o I use a second method when making Frame Grabs from my Hi-8 camera,
but this requires a monitor which has an S video input. The camera has
an S video output jack and cable.I run this to the S video input on the
monitor, and hook the Frame Grab Cable into the RCA video out jack on
the camera.
Sa mp le Releas eF o rm
This is a releaseform I've used for some of my taping of scientists.It's offered
only as a sample, and no claims whatsoeverare made that it will fulfill all
legal or human subjectsrequirements.
Recording human interaction in natural settings
209
R e l e a s e fo r Vi d e o ta p i ng
I (CharlesGoodwin) am engaged in a project investigating how the work
of scienceis done. To do this it is essentialthat I have video and audio tapes
of scientistsas they actually go about their work and talk with each other. (In
previousresearchI have used videotape to investigate human interaction,
with particular attention to the organization of talk; the present project is part
of an effort to extend such analysis to larger social institutions). The
videotapesthat I am recording are for researchpurposes only. They will not
be broadcastor put to any commercial use. They will only be shown to others
in the contextof professional work.
I have read the above and agree to be taped.
Name:
Address
Signature
Date: